Ntombekhaya Zibi
SuperSport United resumed Absa Premiership with a 1 all draw against Bloemfontein Celtic on Sunday evening at the Bidvest Stadium .
Dean Furman’s exit at United created an opening for Kudakwashe Mahachi, with Celtic recalling Thato Lingwati and Andile Fikizolo following his impact off the bench against Baroka FC.
Matsatsantsa showed dominance as Bradley Grobler went inches away from putting them ahead on 18 minutes when his attempt rattled the crossbar having opened space for the strike.
However it was Siwelele that broke the deadlock with their very first attack 14 minutes later after Mzwanele Mahashe propped up unchallenged in the area to turn home a corner-kick with Ronwen Williams off his line.
With 10 minutes left before half time Matsatsantsa almost had an equalizer when a cutback in the area from Grobler released Onismor Bhasera, who put Sipho Chaine to work following a low attempt. Going on break with Celtics leading by 1-0.
Thamsanqa Gabuza was called upon by United as a halftime change in place of Mahachi, whilst Aubrey Modiba applied intense pressure in pursuit of the equaliser.
A coming-together between Modiba and Chaine led to a free-kick near the area and from the resultant set-piece everything changed when Teboho Mokoena curled home a brilliant free-kick from the edge of the box that beat Chaine at his near post, making it all 1.
The game opened up after the hour-mark and SuperSport came close to grabbing the lead in the 68th minute after Ghampani Lungu met a cross inside the box with a towering header but his effort was parried over the bar by Chaine.
Both sides looked for the winner late on with their respective goalkeepers Williams and Chaine on their toes, but it finished 1-1 with United staying fourth place on the league behind Orlando Pirates while Celtic dropped to 11th place.
